Waikerie's wi-fi win

This blog is slightly different to my others – amongst the gusty wind, flies and the heat, I’m publishing it from my crazy orange ABC Open marquee over a free WiFi connection.

There is a revolution happening across the Riverland. Local councils are moving into the 21st century with a commitment to providing free wi-fi in all six district towns by Christmas.

The Riverland is in a convenient location only hours from Adelaide in one direction and Mildura in the other. The aim is to provide travellers with an added convenience – why not stop and let the kids have a play on the banks of the River Murray, while you check your emails and Facebook?

The whole-district approach is an Australian first and a bit of a coup for Waikerie, the first town to have the service turned on today. While it’s a great idea and a point of difference to other regional areas, how long before free wi-fi becomes the norm? What will Waikerie’s point of difference be then?

Some would argue that we are too dependent on social media and communication already; do we really need to check-in online every two hours? Others, like New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, have described wi-fi as the “water of the twenty-first century.” And I would have to agree. Most of our great nation-building infrastructure has already been built. Getting high-speed internet access into regional areas is the next frontier.

The tyranny of distance is still one of the biggest drawbacks to living in regional Australia. Access to high-speed internet allows us access to many of the things that only city folk could do before. Specialist health, through tele-medicine, culture and art, digital communities such as ABC Open and social media. Unthinkable just a decade or so ago.

In this case it’s a win-win situation. Small towns stand to gain the valuable tourist dollar and the travellers get to see more than what they would from their car window, zooming along the highway at great speed.

So if you’re travelling this weekend and you see signs offering free WiFi in a regional town, drop in and spend some time off the highway. Of course, after you’ve checked your Facebook, you could always do a search for local content on ABC Open!